Research and Development

Mississippi State University broke ground in December of 2018 on the $34 million Richard A. Rula Engineering & Science Complex in Starkville. Designed by Eley Guild Hardy Architects, the 70,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, high bay areas, classrooms, and offices. Featuring exposed building systems to enable the structure to act as a teaching tool, the building will house the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as accommodating programs in chemistry.

Cargill opened its $70 million protein headquarters in Wichita in December of 2018. Supporting product research, development, and testing, the four-story, 188,000-sf facility can accommodate up to 950 employees in open office environments designed to promote interaction and innovation. Offering collaboration spaces throughout the building, the technology-rich structure includes a café, a conference center, a state-of-the-art sensory center, and a customer presentation kitchen.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is planning to build a $5 million, 12,490-sf gnotobiotic mouse vivarium adjacent to its existing rodent facility on the East Campus. Providing labs, procedure rooms, a conference room, a staff locker room, and animal holding space, the germ-free facility is being created by the Nebraska Food for Health Center to support research on the human microbiome. Construction will begin in 2019 with completion expected in summer of 2020.

The University of Georgia broke ground in November of 2018 on the $65 million Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (I-STEM) Research Building in Athens. Located on the South Campus, the four-story, 100,000-sf facility will provide collaborative laboratories and support spaces for research programs at the intersection of chemistry, engineering, and materials sciences. The I-STEM building will accommodate more than 30 faculty and 100 graduate students and is slated for completion in summer of 2021.

Mustang Bio completed construction of its 27,000-sf cell therapy manufacturing center in November of 2018. Located in the UMass Medicine Science Park in Worcester, the facility supports the clinical development and commercialization of Mustang's CAR-T and gene therapy product candidates. Accommodating proprietary cell therapy research, the project involved the renovation of labs and offices, as well as the conversion of existing labs to create three cGMP ISO7 clinical production areas.

Most A&E teams will never have to plan the descent of a highly sensitive, one-of-a-kind particle accelerator a mile down a wet, dark, crooked shaft to an astrophysics research facility built in a decommissioned gold mine. Or collaborate on a strategy to acquire and store the equivalent of 20 percent of a year’s production of xenon gas without making a massive one-time purchase that could trigger a drastic spike in market prices. Or order equipment from around the globe that has to be transported by ship, rail, or truck because of the exposure to radiation in flight. The professionals who faced these challenges will probably not encounter them again on future projects. However, as scientific discovery continues to push the frontiers of the unknown, the need to create unique research environments is likely to become more frequent.

The University of Miami dedicated the Thomas P. Murphy Design Studio Building in November of 2018 in Coral Gables, Fla. Designed by Arquitectonica, the 20,000-sf facility provides the School of Architecture with a unique collaborative learning space that can accommodate up to 130 students simultaneously. The only fixed walls within the structure delineate a technology-rich fabrication lab with polymer and powder 3D printers.

Children's National Health System broke ground in late November of 2018 on the Research and Innovation Campus in Washington. The project includes the renovation of four existing buildings located on 12 acres on the former Walter Reed Medical Center Campus. A 333,000-sf research and innovation facility will provide 158,000 sf of laboratory space for the study of pediatric genomics and precision medicine. The project will include a business incubator and 175,000 of shell space to accommodate future growth. Completion is expected in 2020.

Virginia Tech is planning to build a $1 billion innovation campus in Alexandria. Strategically sited near Amazon's new National Landing headquarters, the project will provide one million square feet of teaching and research space for graduate programs in computer science, software engineering, data analytics, cybersecurity, and technology and policy. The campus will also include residential amenities and space for collaboration with industry partners. The development team includes the City of Alexandria and Stonebridge Associates. 

The Quadram Institute began the phased occupation of its £75 million translational research facility in fall of 2018. Located in the Norwich Research Park in the United Kingdom, the 150,000-sf complex was created by Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, the University of East Anglia, Quadram Institute Bioscience, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Peking University is planning to construct a 169-acre campus for research and development in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Supporting interdisciplinary programs in computer science and engineering, the project will represents a significant expansion of Peking University's existing footprint into the Changping district. Artificial intelligence is a central theme of the country's Made in China 2025 initiative which aims to develop the knowledge and talent base to support an internationally competitive manufacturing industry.

The European Spallation Source is planning to construct a three-building research support campus in Lund, Sweden. Sited adjacent to the Target Station, the 215,000-gsf complex will provide 450 workspaces and 16 labs for the maintenance, testing, and development of equipment. The main five-story building will house an auditorium, offices, meeting rooms, and a dining facility. The campus was designed by Henning Larsen Architects, COBE, and SLA Architects and will be constructed by Skanska.

West Texas A&M University will begin construction in December of 2018 on two new veterinary facilities in Canyon, Texas. The $22 million Veterinary Education, Research & Outreach Center will house three BSL-2 labs, a multipurpose teaching lab, a large partitionable classroom, offices, a student commons, and a graduate student bullpen. Offering 22,564 net assignable square feet, the building will include shell space for additional teaching, research, and instructional facilities.

Harvey Mudd College will begin construction in 2019 on the $30 million McGregor Computer Science Center. The three-story, 36,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, faculty offices, clinic and project studios, robotics labs, a leading-edge AV production suite, conference rooms, and collaboration areas. The building will also include a maker space with sophisticated equipment including laser cutters and 3D printers. The repositioned Libra Complex, which currently houses engineering machine shops, will be linked to the new center.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia completed construction of the $75 million Clinical Vector Core in November of 2018. Located on the basement level of the Colket Translational Research Building, the project provides laboratories, offices, four production suites, and cleanrooms for the manufacture of gene therapy agents for clinical trials. The 15,000-sf facility features robust environmental controls and was built at a cost of $44 million. The Clinical Vector Core is part of the Raymond G.